


Better Late Than Never

by BoydTheReaver



Series: The Black Prince of Nohr [8]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: F/M, Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest Spoilers, Fluff, Late Valentine's Day Gift, Married Couple, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Original Avatar Character, Original Character(s), Post-Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 10:20:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22848556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BoydTheReaver/pseuds/BoydTheReaver
Summary: Jude found himself swamped enough in the messes of politics to focus on his loved ones, but he always made sure to find a good opportunity to make up for it to his wife.
Relationships: Charlotte/My Unit | Kamui | Corrin
Series: The Black Prince of Nohr [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/737064
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	Better Late Than Never

**Author's Note:**

> A Fire Emblem Fates one-shot? _After_ Three Houses was released?! What sorcery is this?
> 
> Yep, seeing my current hot-topic fandom (Danganronpa) slow down has made me a lot more comfortable in writing fanfiction of settings that are dormant in terms of activity on this very site. I will confess I'm not a very huge fan of Three Houses, so me choosing to write about this in full is sort of a spite to the idea I _have_ to write the currently "hip" thing to make good writing, so... yeah.
> 
> Either way, enjoy a Valentine's Day Present that's one bit too late.
> 
>  **Appearance of Jude, My Original Avatar Character**  
>  **Portrait:** http://i.imgur.com/Vv9BJa5.png  
>  **Appearance (Low Quality):** http://i.imgur.com/eaiNoso.jpg

Charlotte always held the rigors associated with Nohrian politics – thus extending onto the _entire_ continent of Aghrel – with more than a little loathing. Especially so, given it separated herself from the important things, like bonding with her friends and family… _especially_ her family. Charlotte was already undyingly loyal to the red-haired, tall manakete prince of Nohr all the way to the bitter end of the Second Hoshidan-Nohrian War with no shortage affection for him… one that was returned in full.

He was a naïve and sheltered person, but that didn’t make what he said any less touching. “You’re human, Charlotte,” he said, “And the person you are is whom I love.” She couldn’t paraphrase the _exact_ wording, but that struck a chord with Charlotte that she never forgot, especially over how moved to have somebody who _doesn’t_ judge you for wanting to pick up a Gods-blasted axe instead of playing dolls and teacups. Perhaps fittingly, the only other ones who showed Charlotte that level of affection were her parents, who were the only reason why she didn’t crumple up into a heap of self-esteem.

They’d hook up during the war, and Charlotte’s subsequent birth of Kana lead to the couple being forced to move their children to the Deeprealms – already a tough decision on their part, and one that come in full consequence when Kana came back from the Deeprealm with nary an intention of leaving her family behind. But through trial, fire and plain-old familial bonding, the three youths fell in love with each other as a family, as with King Garon ousted and the Second Nohrian-Hoshidan War ending in a stalemate, it finally enabled Jude to let themselves live a life without the need for a sword.

Jude in particular took a lot of his time, to make amends for the crimes he committed, journeying across Aghrel in helping of humanitarian efforts. _That’s_ what Charlotte fell in love with, his compassion unfurled. She had to admit that she wasn’t exactly huge on being left alone to tend Kana, but she understand how much of a weight it had to be to enable the invasion of Hoshido. Jude chocked _that_ up as one of his greatest regrets, and though he’ll forever be a highly controversial character in Nohrian history, that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t stand by him.

“Mama, can you read me a bedtime story?”

February 22nd, the year 649 of the Vallite Calendar. Charlotte was in Shadowrealm, now used less as a fortress and more as a base of diplomacy for Nohr extending into Aghrel and other worlds, but she still resided in Jude’s private quarters like nothing happened. She kissed Kana – herself in a total mirror-image of herself barring the pointy ears – straight on the cheek, causing the 13-year old girl to giggle cheerfully.

“Of course, sweetums!” Charlotte smiled happily. “Make sure you brush your teeth beforehand though, okay?”

“Right. Gotcha!” Kana bounced up happily. “Seeya later, Mama!”

As Kana hastily ran upstairs, Charlotte smiled as she went up. _She’s growing up fast,_ Charlotte acknowledged in her heart, _but I think I’m to blame for that one._

She did admit that it was definitely her own fault for letting Kana into this whole mess. Charlotte sighed bitterly. She wasn’t in any stretch imaginable a perfect parent, even though she’s absolutely yearning to make sure Kana grows up in the best way possible. What else was of her to do? She sat on the bed, sighing, deep in her own thoughts like a certain teal-haired songstress.

…who is now currently dead. _Great reminder, Charlotte_ , she thought to herself.

It took a bit of more thought before she willed herself out of bed, thinking about the love of her life. _I wonder how Jude’s doing,_ Charlotte thought glumly. Him sparing positively _no expense_ in rebuilding and restructuring Hoshido as the result of this god-awful war was certainly genuine on his part, but no shortage of the Hoshidan populace wanted his head. Queen Hinoka did her hardest to quell this, especially after hearing the story from her biological brother’s side, but neither were ready to say that things would get any better for a while. It’s to the point Jude _has_ to wear his armor, his Shadow Yato, and walk around like a _migrant_ strutting around the place when he’s trying to _help –_

Charlotte grimaced, slapping her forehead. _No, no,_ Charlotte thought, _don’t think about_ that, _damnit!_ She sat up, sighing. She supposed that the most she missed of her husband is him missing Lovers’ Day, a romantic Nohrian Holiday on February 14th, when he set off on one of his humanitarian runs in Hoshido – he left on February 11th, but he hasn’t been back in 11 days. Jude made damn certain that she’d come back with souvenirs, but she didn’t even _care,_ about that, she just wanted him –

_Klik._

“Hey Charlotte, you there?”

…safe. Well, she had to thank the Dark Dragon then.

Charlotte’s smile grew as she saw the familiar, six-foot-one redhead prince walk in, giving a genuine smile. Charlotte ran over and hugged her husband near-immediately, bringing her in for a tighter hug.

“Jude!” Charlotte smiled, hugging him tight. “Oh, I’ve missed you so much! Jeez, why didn’t ya send a _courier_ to – “

“C-Can’t… breathe…”

Charlotte realized in that moment that she was hugging her husband with the strength of a goddamn bear, and awkward let go, laughing.

“Heh, um… sorry.” Charlotte blushed, laughing awkwardly. “So! Why don’t you put your bags down and we greet our little sugar-plum first thing, yeah? Then I’ll make you some Vegetarian Chowder.”

Indeed, Jude had a _plethora_ of packages in bags, but he dropped them in that moment and formed a smile – Charlotte knew his favorite food _way_ too well, and the half-dragon Nohrian Prince _grinned._

“Oh, man…” Jude grinned. “You have _no idea_ how much I wanna eat your cooking. Though let’s check up on Kana first, alright?”

Charlotte snickered. “Of _course_ you would. You’re too nice for your own good.”

That wasn’t at all a criticism, but a gesture of affection. Jude and Charlotte held hands, even in Jude’s armored hand, and the young couple smiled happily.

“Welcome home.” Charlotte smiled. “I missed you.”

* * *

To say Kana was exuberant her father returned would be an understatement. She hugged her father, kissed him on the cheek more times than he would count, and they made sure to tend to Kana until she was fast asleep. To be blunt, Kana acting less mature for her age given the two years after the war made Charlotte worry, but she knew that they could work it out almost _certainly_ together. That’s what family is for: to help each other out in time of need, right?

Regardless, Charlotte got to work in making her own meal and Jude got dressed in a decidedly more casual jerkin attire. Charlotte brought a wooden bowl of vegetarian chowder to her husband, and Jude lit up in a smile in that moment. Jude can’t cook for the life of him, so it’d be a good thing indeed Charlotte was definitely a competent chef.

“Oh, boy, do you know me.” Jude grinned. Charlotte simply giggled as she waved the spoon into the meal.

“Oh, c’mon now.” Charlotte rolled her eyes affectionately. “Just shut up and eat your damn chowder.”

Jude did indeed. He made several pleased sounds as he ate the delicious stew-like chowder, and after ten minutes of eating, he gave a happy sigh. He sat next to Charlotte, after doing her the favor of bringing her everything. The black-clad prince simply smiled cheerfully, opening up his gift.

“Here! This is something I’ve managed to get for you.” Jude said with a cheery little grin. “Do read, why don’tcha?”

Charlotte thought it was strange to see a book like this. But as she opened it up, it became a _scrapbook,_ containing pitch-perfect drawings of different memories the Nohrians had as a family. Charlotte’s grin widened, and as she finished the book, she hugged Jude in joy.

“Oh, this is incredible! You got me this for Lovers’ Day, right?!” Charlotte squealed, happily hugging him tighter. “Thank you! How on earth did you get this crap to be so pitch-perfect?!”

“Well, I did. Happy Lovers’ Day, by the way! It was a late gift, but I hope it was worth the wait.” Jude laughed, but was relieved that Charlotte’s hug was a lot less… aggressive. “I got it because I wanted to make up for it, so I went to a Hoshidan diviner to peer into memories of mine and create a pitch-perfect scrapbook! It costed me a pretty penny, but it was worth it.”

“Well… I can’t at all fault your taste in items.” Charlotte said with tears in her eyes. “Thank you, bubby.”

“Wh – oh, c’mon!” Jude looked on guffawed. “You don’t need to fake tears!”

“Dummy.” Charlotte said, leaning on a bewildered Jude’s shoulder. “I wouldn’t cry for _any_ man I don’t love dearly.”

Jude couldn’t argue with that. The two sat with each other and made sure to light the fireplace up. Evening soon gave way to total night, an the two rested on each other in blissful silence. It was in that moment it felt like Jude didn’t leave at all, even though he still went to Hoshido to make amends for his mistakes… but they, deep down, knew that was a lie. Jude’s smile faltered, and he sighed.

“Y’know…” Jude said with a dark grumble. “I was attacked by some rogue Hoshidan ninjas a few days ago.”

Charlotte bolted up. “What?! W-Wait, why didn’t you tell me this sooner?!”

Jude sighed grimly. He kicked his legs up and down in silence. “It’s to be expected at least _once._ You _know_ Hoshido hates me for what I’ve done, Charlotte. I _know_ it’s a consequence of my actions, and I won’t run from them. Frankly, I _deserve_ what happened back there; people have every right to be angry with me.”

Another sigh. Charlotte would’ve commented, but she made the correct call to remain silence as Jude continued.

“It’s not even that I _don’t_ wish I couldn’t have done something to help. I knew perfectly well this was the only chance of beating Garon in the position I’m in.” Jude said, grumbling. “But so many lives were lost to _me_ because I was _dumb_ enough to try to go back and sort things out with my foster family. I don’t regret that… I do regret that I thought I could help things on the inside the way I did.”

Jude sighed grimly, but Charlotte patted him on the back. “Jude, you’ve done the most you could have in all this. That’s the most we can ask of ourselves when presented with these scenarios. You don’t think I joined the Border Guard to kill people for the fun of it, right? I’ve _joined_ for the pay, but also I want to protect the things that mattered most. My _family,_ who raised me right, and _this_ family that I’m a part of. I’ve made damn sure to guarantee the safety of everyone… and you just mean too much to me for me to not fight.”

“So Jude…” Charlotte said with a small, sad smile. “Don’t you think you haven’t done what you felt was right and did it in the most capacity possible. Remember that.”

Jude paused, but he felt a bit better. His lips curled into a small smile, and he hugged his wife.

“Thanks, Charlotte. You… you mean the most to me out of anyone.” Jude spoke, sincerely. “Just make sure you don’t get hurt or anything, alright?”

Charlotte chuckled grimly. “Oh, you moron. _I’m_ the one supposed to ask that question!”

“Heh, yeah.” Jude smiled, feeling better. “…I know.”

A paused, but it wasn’t before Jude leaned on Charlotte’s strong shoulders, and smiled.

“I love you.”

“I love you too, you doofus.”

Charlotte pulled in Jude, hugging him close, all while the married couple fell asleep over the roaring fire that flickered in the night, and eventually, to embers.

**Author's Note:**

> Nothing much to say otherwise, other than I'm super happy to finally begin writing Fates anew as well! I'm planning on doing a Sporking on a particularly horrific fic on das_mervin2, so... yeah. I intend to be pretty damn busy with writing Fates' cast from here on.
> 
> Here's to eventually writing new fics for Fire Emblem! Cheers!


End file.
